Japanese scientists create mice with no fear of cats
Written by admin on March 16, 2010 – 1:39 pm -
om and Jerry just wouldn’t have been the same if it had featured one of Ko Kobayakawa’s mice. The Tokyo University professor has just unveiled mutant mice that have lost their innate fear of cats. Rather than flee or freeze when confronted with their feline enemy, the mice sniffed and even played with them, blissfully unaware of the potential dangers. Kobayakawa developed the fearless mice by shutting down receptors in their olfactory bulb – the area of the brain that processes information about smells – which would normally induce panic as soon as they get so much as a whiff of a cat.
Tags: cats, create, fear, Japanese, mice, scientists
Posted in Animals, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
By antega on Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
what a stupid experiment…” we hope we can make animals no longer fear what kills and eats them”……uhh, isnt that fear suppose to save there lives??
By AvidPsychonaut on Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
Umm a mouse and cat together in a laboratory condition…the mouse had nothing to fear anyway…no go catch some stray cats,put them in a cage,and then drop the mouse in…
By nekodix on Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
falta ke le quiten el miedo de un elefante hacia los ratones
By teleostomi on Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
Wow this video and the uploader’s comment teach me great info. That tells me that even a blind mouse will flee from cats from just the smell of cats.
By MrFibes on Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
the mouse hadnt any reason to fear that cat anyway so the scientists really wasted time here
By dahwang12 on Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
hmmm… I saw a video here showing pet rat chasing cat around in “affectionate” manner and both seemed to get along. But I guess rats and mouse are different like that.
By ExactLeigh on Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
wow that mouse is so lucky that kitty is laud back lol
By sleeknmax on Mar 16, 2010 | Reply
thats the cutest thing!!